Post by Hennessy Macklemore III on Apr 8, 2021 2:20:22 GMT
Eric Lee Martin (October 10, 1960 - )
Years active: 1979-present
Country of origin: United States of America
Recorded vocal range: F2-D6
Band history:
- 1978-1979 - Mile Hi (rhythm guitar, vocals)
- 1979-1983 - 415 (lead vocals, keyboards)
- 1983-1985 - Eric Martin Band (lead vocals)
- 1985-1988 - Eric Martin (lead vocals)
- 1988-2002 - Mr. Big (lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar)
- 1998-present - Eric Martin (lead vocals, guitar)
- 2004 - Tak Matsumoto Group (lead vocals)
- 2007-present - Scrap Metal (vocals)
- 2009-present - Mr. Big (lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar)
{Other bands (years unknown)}
- Backhome (lead vocals)
- Kid Courage (lead vocals)
- S.F. Bloodshy (lead vocals)
- Stark Raving Mad (lead vocals)
- The Buzz (drums)
Recorded high notes:
D6: "Two for the Road" demo
C6: "She's Out for Blood"
B5: "Addicted to That Rush" live Tokyo 1993, "I Love You Japan" live at Budokan Hall 1996, "Livin' Like a Dog", "Mr. Big" live at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 1996, "Red, White and Bullet Blues" live Tokyo 2004, "Shy Boy" live at Budokan Hall 1996, "Sons of Angels", "30 Days in the Hole", "Take a Walk" live New Haven 1989, "The Light of Day" live Santiago 2015, "Two for the Road", "Where Do I Fit In?", "Wind Me Up" live Tokyo 1993
A♯5/B♭5: "Alive and Kickin'" live San Francisco 1992, "Colorado Bulldog" live at Budokan Hall 1996, "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" live San Francisco 1992, "How Can You Do What You Do" live New Haven 1989, "Livin' Like a Dog", "Merciless" live Mountainview 1990, "Rock & Roll Over" live New Haven 1989, "What's It Gonna Be" live Tokyo 1993, "Wind Me Up" live Tokyo 1993
G♯5/A♭5: "Blame It On My Youth" live New Haven 1989, "Colorado Bulldog" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "How Can You Do What You Do" live New Haven 1989, "I'm Alone", "Livin' Like a Dog", "More Than Enough" demo, "Rock & Roll Over", "Shy Boy" live Tokyo 1991, "Sons of Angels", "Take a Walk" live Tokyo 2002, "The American Dream", "What's Left of Me" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Wind Me Up"
G5: "Addicted to That Rush" live Omaha 1990, "A Little Too Loose" live Tokyo 1991, "Alive and Kickin'", "Be Kind", "Blame It on My Youth", "Break Out", "Carnival of Souls", "Colorado Bulldog" live Tokyo 1993, "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Electrified", "I Wish You Were Here" live Tokyo 2004, "Merciless", "Mr. Big" demo, "Nothing Like It in the World", "Price You Gotta Pay" live at Budokan Hall 1996, "Road to Ruin", "Take a Walk", "Temperamental", "The Monster in Me" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Twisted Mind" live São Paulo 2013, "Undertow" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Voodoo Kiss" live San Francisco 1992, "What's Left of Me" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Who Am I Supposed to Be"
F♯5/G♭5: "Around the World" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Baba O'Riley" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Blame It on My Youth", "Colorado Bulldog" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Crossroads" live Mill Valley 2021, "Gotta Love the Ride", "Heavy Traffic", "Hold Your Head Up", "How Can You Do What You Do" live Hampton Coliseum 1990, "I Love You Japan", "I'm Alone", "It's Too Late" demo, "Livin' Like a Dog", "Lucky This Time" live Tokyo 1991, "Mr. Big" live Tokyo 1993, "Nobody Left to Blame", "Nothing Like It in the World", "Price You Gotta Pay" live at Bloodstock 2018, "Red, White and Bullet Blues", "Road to Ruin", "Rock & Roll Over" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Suspicious Minds" live Hamburg 2014, "Take Cover" backstage at The Tivoli 2018, "That's What I'm Here For", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "These Are the Good Times", "The Stories We Could Tell", "Train Kept a-Rollin'" live New Haven 1989, "Trapped", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Wind Me Up" live New Haven 1989, "Wonderland", "Yuuwaku (誘惑)"
F5: "Alive and Kickin'" live Tokyo 2002, "American Beauty" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Colorado Bulldog" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Courageous", "Dancin' with My Devils" live Tokyo 2002, "Don't Count Me Out", "Dying for an Angel" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Free Ride" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Heavy Traffic", "I Wish You Were Here", "Just One Night", "Lucky This Time" live Tokyo 1991, "1992", "Out of the Underground" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Price You Gotta Pay" live Milan 2017, "Promised Land" live Pratteln 2013, "See See Rider" live Hamburg 2014, "The Monster in Me" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Unfinished Business", "Untouchable", "Undertow" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "What If We Were New?", "What's Left of Me" live at Wacken Open Air 2014
E5: "A Rose Alone" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Big Love" acoustic version, "Cheer Up", "Cinderella Smile", "Colorado Bulldog" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Courageous", "Had Enough", "Heavy Traffic", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" sung in interview 2009, "I've Learned My Lesson", "Life Got in the Way", "Livin' Like a Dog", "Shy Boy" live Tokyo 1993, "Still Ain't Enough" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Take a Walk" live San Francisco 1992, "The Greatest Show on Earth" live Tokyo 2004, "The Stories We Could Tell", "The Voice ~Jupiter~", "To Be with You", "Where Do I Fit In?" live at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 1996, "Wind Me Up" live New Haven 1989, "Wink and a Smile"
D♯5/E♭5: "Addicted to That Rush" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "American Beauty" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Around the World" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "As Far as I Can See" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Close My Eyes Forever" live Walker 2015, "Free Ride" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Honey", "I'm Only Fooling Myself", "It's Always About That Girl", "Let's Get It Over With", "Maniac", "Mr. Gone", "Mysterious", "Nobody Left to Blame", "Promised Land" live Berlin 2013, "Shine" backstage rehearsal at the Whisky a Go Go 2015, sung in interview 2009, "The Monster in Me" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Voodoo Kiss" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Water Over the Bridge", "What's Left of Me" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "You're No Angel"
D5: "A Little Too Loose" live Tokyo 1993, "Anything For You", "Beautiful", "Blame It on My Youth", "Brand New Face", "Can't Hold On, Can't Let Go", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Don't Count Me Out", "Don't Stop" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Eyes of the World", "Finders Keepers", "Gonna Make a Lover Out of You", "Good Rockin' Tonight" live New Haven 1989, "Have I Been Here Before", "Hold Your Head Up", "I Can't Stop the Fire", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "If You Believe Me", "I'm Only Fooling Myself", "Information", "I Wrote the Book", "Just One Night", "Just Too Late", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "Lucky This Time", "Lyin' in a Bed of Fire", "Merciless" live Mountainview 1990, "Mr. Big", "My Kinda Woman", "Never Say Never", "No Turning Back" demo, "Price You Gotta Pay", "Promised Land" live Snina 2013, "Rock & Roll Over", "Secrets in the Dark", "Shiroi Koibitotachi (白い恋人達)", "Sleepwalking", "Static", "Stayin' Close to You", "Temperamental", "The Man Who Has Everything", "To Be with You", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Unfinished Business", "Untouchable", "Wild World", "Wind Me Up", "Wink and a Smile", "What's It Gonna Be", "Where Do I Fit In?"
C♯5/D♭5: "A Little Too Loose", "American Beauty" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Around the World" live acoustic Tokyo 2011, "Arrow", "Baba O'Riley" live New Haven 1989, "Blame It on My Youth" live New Haven 1989, "Boys Night Out", "Brand New Face", "Burnin' in My Mind", "Can't Hold On, Can't Let Go", "Catch Me If You Can", "Colorado Bulldog", "Confess", "Crazy World Like This", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Don't Stop", "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Everytime I Think of You", "Everything", "Eyes of the World", "Fly", "Foolin'" live Hysteria on the High Seas cruise 2016, "Goin' Where the Wind Blows", "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind", "Hole in the Sun", "How Can You Do What You Do" live New Haven 1989, "I Can't Stop the Fire", "If You Believe Me", "I'm Alone", "Just Another Pretty Boy", "Just Take My Heart", "Just Too Late", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "Kisses Stain" acoustic version, "Let's Get It Over With", "Letting It Out", "Livin' Like a Dog", "Love Makes You Strong", "Marie", "More Than Enough" demo, "Never Good-Bye", "Never Say Never", "1992", "Nobody Left to Blame", "Nothing at All", "Nothing But Love", "Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~", "Once Upon a Time" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "One More Time", "One Way Out", "Outside Looking In", Paul Gilbert guitar solo live San Francisco 1992, "Pictures", "Precious", "Right Outta Here", "Road to Ruin", "Secrets in the Dark", "Shadows", "Somethin' for Nothin'", "Somewhere in the Middle", "Stay Together", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Sucker for a Pretty Face", "Swing Time", "Take a Walk" live Mountainview 1990, "Temperamental", "That's What I'm Here For", "The American Dream", "The Light of Day", "There Goes the Neighborhood" acoustic version, "These Are the Good Times", "The Whole World's Gonna Know", "To Be with You", "Train, Train" live Tokyo 2004, "Train Kept a-Rollin'" live New Haven 1989, "Trapped", "Two of a Kind", "Unforgiven", "Voodoo Kiss" live at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 1996, "What If We Were New?", "What's It Gonna Be", "Where Do I Fit In?", "Who Am I Supposed to Be", "Who Has the Right?", "Wild, Wild Women" demo, "Young at Heart", "You Were Mine (あなたのキスを数えましょう)"
C5: "Addicted to That Rush", "Ain't Seen Love Like That", "A Little Too Loose", "Alive And Kickin'", "All in the Wind", "All I Want for Christmas Is You (恋人たちのクリスマス)", "All the Way Up", "American Beauty", "Anything For You", "As Far as I Can See", "Batter Up!", "Better Day", "Big Love", "Boys Night Out", "Break Out", "Burn", "Call of the Wild", "Carnival of Souls", "Cheer Up", "Colorado Bulldog", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Don't Count Me Out", "Don't Stop", "Dreamin'", "East/West", "Electrified", "Everyday" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Every Second Beat", "Everything", "Finders Keepers", "Fool Us Today", "Gonna Make a Lover Out of You", "Heavy Traffic", "Hero", "Hiding Place", "Honey", "How Does It Feel", "I Can't Relax", "If That's What It Takes", "If You Believe Me", "I'll Leave It Up to You", "I Love the Way You Love Me", "I'm Only Fooling Myself", "Itsukano Merry Xmas (いつかのメリークリスマス)", "I've Learned My Lesson", "I Wish You Were Here", "I Wrote the Book", "Just Another Pretty Boy", "Just One Night", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "Let Yourself Go", "Little Mistake", "Living in Black & White", "Looks Can Be Deceiving", "Lucky This Time", "Mama D.", "Merciless", "Mikazuki (三日月)", "More Than Enough", "Mr. Gone", "My Dear Son", "My Kinda Woman", "Mysterious", "Next Time Around", "Nothing Like It in the World", "Open Letter to God", "Over My Heart", "Price You Gotta Pay", "Private Life", "Rock This Town", "Secrets in the Dark", "She's Out for Blood", "Shoot the Moon", "Shy Boy" live New Haven 1989, "Sleepwalking", "Something There", "Static", "Stayin' Close to You", "Stop Messing Around", "Stranger in My Life", "Strike Like Lightning", "Suffocation", "Take Cover" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Take a Walk", "Ten Feet Tall", "The American Dream", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "The Monster in Me" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "The Voice ~Jupiter~", "The Whole World's Gonna Know", "The Wicked Symphony" live Barcelona 2016, "30 Days in the Hole", "Train, Train", "Trapped in Toyland", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Undertow" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Unfinished Business", vocal lesson, "Voodoo Kiss", "Want to Be Wanted", "Water Over the Bridge", "Where Are You?", "Who Am I Supposed to Be", "Wild, Wild Women" demo, "Wind Me Up", "Wink and a Smile", "Xanandra", "You're No Angel", "You're Too Good for Him", "You've Got a Friend"
B4: "A Little Too Loose", "Alive and Safe", "Amazing Grace", "American Beauty", "Anything for You", "A Rose Alone", "Around the World", "Arrow", "Baba O'Riley" live New Haven 1989, "Batter Up!", "Been Around", "Better Day", "Bigger Man", "Blame It on My Youth", "Boys Night Out", "Brand New Face", "Can't Hold On, Can't Let Go", "Catch Me If You Can", "Change", "Cheap Little Thrill", "Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ)", "Cinderella Smile", "Close My Eyes Forever" live Walker 2015, "Colorado Bulldog", "Confess", "Crawl Over Me", "Crazy World Like This", "Crossroads" live Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham 2018, "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (Electric Drill Song)", "Defying Gravity", "Don't Stop", "Eternal Flame", "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Everyday", "Everything", "Everytime I Think of You", "Eyes of the World", "First Love", "Fly on a Wall", "Foolin'" live Hysteria on the High Seas cruise 2016, "Fool Us Today", "Goin' Sane", "Go Go Power Rangers", "Good Rockin' Tonight" live New Haven 1989, "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind", "Had Enough", "Have I Been Here Before", "Heart of a Champion", "Hiding Place", "Hold Your Head Up", "Hole in the Sun", "How Can You Do What You Do", "How Did I Give Myself Away", "How Does It Feel", "I Believe", "I Can Die Now", "I Can't Stop the Fire", "I Don't Want to Be Happy", "I Don't Want to Want You", "If", "I Forget to Breathe", "I Get the Feeling" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011 "I Know You by Heart", "I Love You Japan", "I'll Leave It Up to You", "I'm Only Fooling Myself", "I'm Sorry Girl, I Don't Even Care" demo, "In Case You Didn't Know", "Information", "Itsukano Merry Xmas (いつかのメリークリスマス)", "Janie Won't Open", "Just Another Pretty Boy", "Just Take My Heart", "Kansas", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "King of the Hill", "Kings for a Day", "Kisses Stain" acoustic version, "Kukarracha", "Last Christmas", "Last Man Standing", "Letting It Out", "Let Yourself Go", "Living in Black & White", "Livin' Like a Dog", "Long Way Down", "Lost in America", "Love", "Love Lines", "Love Makes You Strong", "Lucky This Time", "Lyin' in a Bed of Fire", "Mama D.", "Marie", "Mary Goes 'Round", "Merciless", "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)", "More Than Enough", "Mr. Baseball", "Mr. Big", "Mr. Never in a Million Years", "My Dear Son", "My Heart Will Go On", "My Kinda Woman", "My Mistake", "Never Good-Bye", "Never Say Never", "New Girl" demo, "Next Time Around", "No One Said Goodbye", "Nothing But Love", "No Turning Back" demo, "Once Upon a Time", "One More Time", "One Third the Emotion (1/3の純情な感情)", "One Way Out", "Out of the Underground", "Outside Looking In", "Paris", "Pictures", "Precious", "Pride", "Price You Gotta Pay", "Promised Land" live Hamburg 2019, "Promise Her the Moon", "Rhyme and Reason", "Right Outta Here", "Road to Ruin", "Rock This Town", "Seven Impossible Days", "Shadows", "She's Gone" demo, "Shiroi Koibitotachi (白い恋人達)", "Signs of Life", "Somewhere in the Middle", "Sons of Angels", "Spaceman", "Stay Together", "Stop Messing Around", "Story", "Sucker for a Pretty Face", "Superfantastic", "Take a Walk", "Take Cover", "Tears", "Tell the Truth", "Temperamental", "That's What I'm Here For", "The American Dream", "The Greatest Show on Earth", "The Great Mystery" live São Paulo 2016, "The Lady of Tramp", "The Light of Day", "The Monster in Me", "These Are the Good Times", "There Goes the Neighborhood", "There'll Be You", "30 Days in the Hole", "This Is Serious", "To Be with You", "Trapped", "Try to Do Without It", "Two for the Road", "Unbreak My Heart", "Unforgiven", "Wake Up", "Water Over the Bridge", "What About You and Me", "What If We Were New?", "What's It Gonna Be", "Where Are They Now?", "Where Do I Fit In?", "Who Has the Right?", "Wind Me Up", "Wink and a Smile", "You Don't Have to Be Strong", "Young at Heart"
A♯4/B♭4: "Alive and Kickin'", "Alive and Safe", "All Cried Out", "All I Want for Christmas Is You (恋人たちのクリスマス)", "All the Way Up", "Alone", "American Beauty", "A Rose Alone", "Around the World", "As Far as I Can See", "Back in Blue" live Nottingham 2018, "Batter Up!', "Be Kind", "Better Day", "Break Out", "Burn", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Carnival of Souls", "Carry On" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Cheer Up", "Crossroads" live Birmingham 02 Academy 2018, "Daddy, Brother, Lover Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Dancin' with My Devils", "Defying Gravity", "Dying for an Angel" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Every Second Beat", "Everything", "Fragile", "Free of It", "Free Ride" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Good Luck Trying", "Gonna Make a Lover Out of You", "Honey", "I Can't Relax", "If You Believe Me", "I'm Alone", "It's Always About That Girl", "I Won't Get in My Way", "I Wrote the Book", "Just One Night", "Just What I Needed", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "Kisses Stain", "Last Man Standing", "Let's Get It Over With", "Let Yourself Go", "Looks Can Be Deceiving", "Love Me", "Maniac", "Marie", "Mean to Me", "Merciless", "Mr. Gone", "My Dear Son", "Mysterious", "Nobody Left to Blame", "Nothing at All", "Nothing Like It in the World", "1992", "Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~", "One on One", "One Thing on My Mind" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Only a Moment", "Open Your Eyes", "Paradise (楽園)", "Photograph" live Hysteria on the High Seas cruise 2016, "Pure and Simple", "Red, White and Bullet Blues", "Rhyme and Reason", "Rock & Roll Over", "Satisfied", "Secrets in the Dark", "Shadows", "Shine", "Shiroi Koibitotachi (白い恋人達)", "Shy Boy" live Tokyo 1993, "Sleepwalking", "Somethin' for Nothin'", "Somewhere in the Middle", "Static", "Stayin' Close to You", "Still Ain't Enough for Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Stranger in My Life", "Street Dance", "Sunday Morning Kinda Girl", "Swing Time", "Take a Walk", "Tattoos and Misery" live at Count's Vamp'd 2018, "The Face of Love", "The Great Mystery" live São Paulo 2016, "The Lady Is a Tramp", "The Light of Day", "The Man Who Has Everything", "The Stories We Could Tell", "The Story Ain't Over" live Santiago 2019, "The Whole World's Gonna Know", "The Wicked Symphony" live Barcelona 2016, "Train Kept a-Rollin'" live New Haven 1989, "Train, Train", "Try to Do Without It", "Tsuki No Shizuku (月のしずく)", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Unbreak My Heart", "Undertow", "Up on You", "What If", "What's Left of Me", "What Were You Thinking", "Where Are You?", "Where Do I Fit In?", "Who We Are", "Wild, Wild Women" demo, "Woman from Tokyo" live Tokyo 1991, "Wonderland", "Xanandra", "(You Can Still) Rock in America" live Tokyo 2004, "You'd Stick Out" live at Count's Vamp'd 2018, "You're Too Good for Him", "You've Got a Friend"
A4: "Addicted to That Rush", "Ain't Seen Love Like That", "A Little Too Loose", "Alive and Kickin'", "All in the Wind", "Angel", "Anything for You", "Arrow", "Batter Up!", "Beautiful", "Been Around", "Be Kind", "Better Day", "Bigger Man", "Big Love", "Blame It on My Youth", "Boys Night Out", "Brand New Face", "Burnin' in My Mind", "Call of the Wild", "Can't Hold On, Can't Let Go", "Catch Me If You Can", "Change", "Cheer Up", "Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ)", "Cinderella Smile", "Colorado Bulldog", "Crawl Over Me", "Crazy World Like This", "Crossroads" live Mill Valley 2021, "Dancin' Right into the Flame", "Defying Gravity", "Don't Count Me Out", "Don't Stop", "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Dreamin'", "Dying for an Angel" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "East/West", "Electrified", "Eternal Flame", "Everyday", "Every Second Beat", "Everything Passes Away", "Everytime I Think of You", "Everything", "Eyes of the World", "First Love", "Fly", "Fool Us Today", "Forefather", "Forever and Back", "Forever Love", "Free of It", "Gloria", "Goin' Sane", "Goin' Where the Wind Blows", "Good Rockin' Tonight" live New Haven 1989, "Gotta Love the Ride", "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind", "Had Enough", "Hanamizuki (ハナミズキ)", "Have I Been Here Before", "Heart of a Champion", "Heavy Traffic", "Hero", "Hiding Place", "Hold Your Head Up", "Hole in the Sun", "How Can You Do What You Do", "How Does It Feel", "I Am You", "I Believe", "I Don't Want to Be Happy", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "I Don't Want to Want You", "If", "I Forget to Breathe", "I for You", "If That's What It Takes", "If You Believe Me", "I Get the Feeling", "I Love the Way You Love Me", "I'm Only Fooling Myself", "Information", "It's Always About That Girl", "Itsukano Merry Xmas (いつかのメリークリスマス)", "I've Learned My Lesson", "I Wish You Were Here", "I Woke Up Too Late", "Kings for a Day", "Jane Doe", "Just Another Pretty Boy", "Just Let Your Heart Decide", "Just Take My Heart", "Just Too Late", "Kukarracha", "Last Christmas", "Last Man Standing", "Letting It Out", "Life Got in the Way", "Little Mistake", "Living in Black & White", "Livin' Like a Dog", "Long Way Down", "Lost in America", "Love Love Love", "Lucky This Time", "M", "Mama D.", "Mary Goes 'Round", "Mean to Me", "Merciless", "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)", "Mikazuki (三日月)", "Move on Up" live, "Mr. Gone", "More Than Enough", "Mr. Never in a Million Years", "My Alibi", "My Disease", "My Mistake", "My New Religion", "New Girl" demo, "Next Time Around", "No One", "Nothin' Bad ('Bout Feeling Good)", "Nothing But Love", "Nothing Like It in the World", "Not One Night", "Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~", "One Thing on My Mind" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "One Third the Emotion (1/3の純情な感情)", "One Way Out", "One World Away", "Only a Moment", "Open Letter to God", "Out of the Underground", "Outside Looking In", "Over My Heart", "Paris", "Pictures", "Precious", "Pride", "Price You Gotta Pay", "Private Life", "Promised Land" live Berlin 2013, "Promise Her the Moon", "Right Outta Here", "Rock This Town", "Savior in the Clockwork" live Amsterdam 2013, "Sekaiju No Dareyori Kitto (世界中の誰よりきっと)", "Seven Impossible Days", "She's Gone" demo, "Shoot the Moon", "Shy Boy" live New Haven 1989, "Sign of the Cross" live at the Kentish Town Forum 2019, "Simple Man", "Signs of Life", "Sleepwalking", "Something There", "Spaceman", "Stay Together", "Still Ain't Enough for Me", "Stop Messing Around", "Story", "Street Dance", "Strike Like Lightning", "Sucker for a Pretty Face", "Swing Time", "Suffocation", "Superfantastic", "Superstar", "Taiyou No Uta (タイヨウのうた)", "Take a Walk", "Take Cover", "Tears", "Tell the Truth", "Ten Feet Tall", "The Greatest Show on Earth", "The Man Who Has Everything", "The Monster in Me", "There You'll Be", "These Are the Good Times", "The Stories We Could Tell", "The Voice ~Jupiter~", "The Whole World's Gonna Know", "The World Is on the Way", "30 Days in the Hole", "This Is Serious", "Time After Time", "Time Goes By", "To Be with You", "Trapped", "Trapped in Toyland", "Try to Do Without It", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Two of a Kind", "Two for the Road", "Unbreak My Heart", "Unfinished Business", "Unforgiven", "Untouchable", "Voodoo Kiss", "Wake Up", "Want to Be Wanted", "Water Over the Bridge", "What About You and Me", "What If", "What If We Were New?", "What's It Gonna Be", "What's Left of Me", "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", "Where Are They Now?", "Where Do I Fit In?", "White Christmas", "Who Am I Supposed to Be", "Wild World", "Wind Me Up", "Winter Song", "Woman from Tokyo" live Tokyo 1991, "You Don't Have to Be Strong", "Young at Heart", "You Were Mine (あなたのキスを数えましょう)", "Yuki No Hana (雪の華)"
G♯4/A♭4: "Alive and Safe", "All the Way Up", "Alone", "American Beauty", "Around the World", "As Far as I Can See", "As Good as It Gets", "Be Kind", "Break Out", "Carnival of Souls", "Chijo No Hoshi (地上の星)", "Christmas Carol No Koro Niha (クリスマスキャロルの頃には)", "Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ)", "Close My Eyes Forever" live Walker 2015, "Crossroads" live Birmingham O2 Academy 2018, "Courageous", "Defying Gravity", "Dying for an Angel" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Eternal Flame", "Everything", "First Love", "Fly on a Wall", "Foolin'" live Hysteria on the High Seas cruise 2016, "Goin' Sane", "Goin' Where the Wind Blows", "Go Go Power Rangers", "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind", "Hound Dog" live Hamburg 2014, "How Did I Give Myself Away", "I Can Die", "I Don't Want to Be Happy", "I Get the Feeling", "I'm Sorry Girl, I Don't Even Care" demo, "Janie Won't Open", "Kansas", "Kill Me with a Kiss", "Last Man Standing", "Let's Get It Over With", "Love", "Love Lines", "Maniac", "Marie", "Mary Goes 'Round", "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence", "Mission", "Mysterious", "Never Good-Bye", "Nothin' Bad ('Bout Feeling Good)", Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~", "Once Upon a Time", "One Third the Emotion (1/3の純情な感情)", "Only a Moment", "Open Your Eyes", "Precious", "Red, White and Bullet Blues", "Rhyme and Reason", "Right Outta Here", "Satisfied", "See See Rider" live Hamburg 2014, "Sekaiju No Dareyori Kitto (世界中の誰よりきっと)", "She's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Shine", "Silent Eve (サイレント・イヴ)", "Sons of Angels", "Spaceman", "Story", "Stranger in My Life", "Sucker for a Pretty Face", "Sunday Morning Kinda Girl", "Swing Time", "Taiyou No Uta (タイヨウのうた)", "Take Cover", "Tattoos and Misery" live at Count's Vamp'd 2018, "The American Dream", "The Chain" live Bari 2007, "The Frame", "The Greatest Show on Earth", "The Great Mystery" live São Paulo 2016, "The Lady Is a Tramp", "The Light of Day", "There You'll Be", "The Story Ain't Over" live Santiago 2019, "The Wicked Symphony" live Barcelona 2016, "The World Is on the Way", "Time Goes By", "Train, Train", "Tsuki No Shizuku (月のしずく)", "Unbreak My Heart", "Unforgiven", "Up on You", "Wake Up", "We're an American Band" live at Budokan Hall 2017, "What Were You Thinking", "Where Are You?", "Who We Are", "Xanandra", "(You Can Still) Rock in America" live Tokyo 2004, "You're No Angel", "You've Got a Friend", "You Were Mine (あなたのキスを数えましょう)", "Yuuwaku (誘惑)"
Recorded low notes:
E3: "Alive and Kickin'" live Tokyo 2002, "Alive and Safe", "Arrow", "A Rose Alone", "Bigger Man", "Big Love" live at Budokan Hall 2023, "Burnin' My Mind", "Cheap Little Thrill", "Chijo No Hoshi (地上の星)", "Christmas Eve (クリスマス・イブ)", "Cinderella Smile", "Colorado Bulldog", "Crawl Over Me", "Dancin' Right into the Flame", "Deep Dark Secret", "Defying Gravity", "Electrified" live acoustic London 2011, "Eternal Flame", "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Everytime I Think of You", "Forever Love", "Fragile" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Free of It", "Free Ride" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Goin' Where the Wind Blows", "Good Luck Trying", "Gotta Love the Ride", "Had Enough '00", "Hanamizuki (ハナミズキ)", "Heavy Traffic", "Hero", "I Believe", "I Can Die Now", "I Don't Want to Be Happy", "If", "I Forget to Breathe", "I Love the Way You Love Me", "In Case You Didn't Know", "Itsukano Merry Xmas (いつかのメリークリスマス)", "I've Learned My Lesson", "I Woke Up Too Late", "Jane Doe", "Janie Won't Open", "Just Let Your Heart Decide", "Just Take My Heart '00", "Kukarracha", "Last Christmas", "Little Mistake", "Living in Black & White", "Love Love Love", "Mary Goes 'Round", "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)", "Mission", "Mr. Baseball", "Mr. Never in a Million Years", "My Disease", "My New Religion", "No One Said Goodbye", "Nothing But Love", "Not One Night", "Paradise (楽園)", "Precious", "Price You Gotta Pay" live Tokyo 2002, "Road to Ruin" live at Budokan Hall 1994, "Simple Man", "Something There", "Spanish Caravan", "Sucker for a Pretty Face" acoustic version, "Superstar", "Taiyou No Uta (タイヨウのうた)", "Temperamental", "That's What I'm Here For", "The Chain", "There Goes the Neighborhood" acoustic version, "There'll Be You", "The Stories We Could Tell", "The Voice ~Jupiter~", "Time Goes By", "Time After Time", "To Be with You", "Try to Do Without It", "Unbreak My Heart", "Voodoo Kiss" live at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 1996, "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", "Where Are They Now?", "Where Do I Fit In?" live acoustic Tokyo 2011, "White Christmas", "Who Am I Supposed to Be", "Wild World" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Wink and Smile", "Winter Song", "You Were Mine (あなたのキスを数えましょう)"
D♯3/E♭3: "Addicted to That Rush" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Ain't Seen Love Like That" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Aitai (会いたい)", "A Little Too Loose" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Alive and Kickin'" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "All Cried Out", "All I Want for Christmas Is You (恋人たちのクリスマス)", "Alone", "A Rose Alone" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "As Far as I Can See", "Baba O'Riley" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Be Kind", "Bigger Man" acoustic version, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Chijo No Hoshi (地上の星)", "Christmas Carol No Koro Niha (クリスマスキャロルの頃には)", "Cinderella Smile", "Colorado Bulldog '14", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" live São Paulo 2010, "Damn I'm in Love Again" live Milan 2017, "Dancin' with My Devils", "Defying Gravity" live Milan 2017, "East/West" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Foolin'" live Hysteria on the High Seas cruise 2016, "Free Ride" live at The Regency Ballroom 2012, "Goin' Where the Wind Blows" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Gotta Love the Ride" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Honey", "I Don't Want to Be Happy", "I Forget to Breathe" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "I'm Alone", "Just Take My Heart" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Just What I Needed", "Kisses Stain" acoustic version, "Living in Black & White", "Mata Kimi Ni Koishiteru (また君に恋してる)", "Merciless" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "My New Religion" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "1992", "Nobody Left to Blame", "No One Said Goodbye", "Nothing at All", "Nothing Like It in the World", "Open Your Eyes" live Milan 2017, "Out of the Underground '14", "Paradise (楽園)", "Price You Gotta Pay" live Milan 2017, "Red, White and Bullet Blues", "Road to Ruin" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Rock & Roll Over" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Sekaiju No Dareyori Kitto (世界中の誰よりきっと)", "Silent Eve (サイレント・イヴ)", "Somethin' for Nothin'", "Somewhere in the Middle", "Still Ain't Enough for Me", "Stranger in My Life", "Sucker for a Pretty Face" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Sunday Morning Kinda Girl", "Suspicious Minds" live Hamburg 2014, "Take Cover" backstage at The Tivoli 2018, "Temperamental" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "The Frame", "The Great Mystery" live São Paulo 2016, "The Light of Day" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "The World Is on the Way" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "To Be with You '14", "Tsuki No Shizuku (月のしずく)", "Voodoo Kiss" live acoustic Tokyo 2011, "Who We Are", "Wink and a Smile" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Wonderland", "Yesterday" live acoustic Velden 2012, "You're No Angel", "You're Too Good for Him"
D3: "American Beauty" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Angel", "A Rose Alone", "Arrow", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Change", "Colorado Bulldog" live Tokyo 1993, "Crawl Over Me", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (Electric Drill Song)", "Dancin' Right into the Flame", "Deep Dark Secret", demonstrating vocal warm-ups sung in interview 2009, "Dying for an Angel" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Everyday", "Everything Passes Away", "Forever and Back", "Hiding Place", "How Does It Feel", "Hold Your Head Up", "I Know You by Heart", "I'll Leave It Up to You", "In Case You Didn't Know", "Just Let Your Heart Decide", "Kisses Stain", "Livin' Like a Dog", "M", "Mr. Big", "Mr. Never in a Million Years", "Never Good-Bye", "Nothing Like It in the World", "Price You Gotta Pay" live Tokyo 2002, "Promised Land" live Hamburg 2019, "Promise Her the Moon", "Rock This Town", "Shiroi Koibitotachi (白い恋人達)", "Sleepwalking", "Spanish Caravan", "Stayin' Close to You", "Superfantastic", "Suspicious Minds" live Hamburg 2014, "Temperamental", "The Man Who Has Everything", "Twisted Mind" live at Wacken Open Air 2014, "Voodoo Kiss" live San Francisco 1992, "What If We Were New?", "Where Are They Now?", "Where Do I Fit In?", "You're Too Good for Him", "Yuki No Hana (雪の華)"
C♯3/D♭3: "Aitai (会いたい)", "Alive and Kickin'" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Angel", "Back in Blue" live Nottingham 2018, "Bigger Man", "Carry On" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Defying Gravity" live Milan 2017, "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Everyday", "First Love", "Forever and Back" live Hamburg 2017, "Goin' Where the Wind Blows", "How Can You Do What You Do" demo, "I Forget to Breathe" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "I Won't Get in My Way", "Just Take My Heart" live Milan 2017, "Kisses Stain" acoustic version, "Mary Goes 'Round", "Never Good-Bye", "Nobody Left to Blame", "Open Your Eyes" live Milan 2017, "Promise Her the Moon" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Red, White and Bullet Blues", "Right Outta Here", "Shine" sung in a Danville parking lot 2021, "Somewhere in the Middle", "Still Ain't Enough for Me" live acoustic Tokyo 2011, "Sunday Morning Kinda Girl", "Superfantastic" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Take a Walk" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Temperamental" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "The Chain", "The World Is on the Way", "Two of a Kind", "Unbreak My Heart", "Unforgiven", vocal lesson, "Voodoo Kiss" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Wild World" live Milan 2017, "Wink and a Smile" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "(You Can Still) Rock in America" live Tokyo 2004, "You Were Mine (あなたのキスを数えましょう)"
C3: "A Little Too Loose", "As Far as I Can See", "A Rose Alone" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "Beautiful", "Better Day", "Bigger Man" acoustic version, "Colorado Bulldog" live Milan 2017, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Everyday" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "First Love", "Hiding Place", "How Does It Feel", "I Am You", "It's Always About That Girl", "I Will Always Love You", "Just Let Your Heart Decide", "Kisses Stain" live at the Akasaka Blitz 2015, "My New Religion", "Open Letter to God", "Promise Her the Moon" acoustic version, "Road to Ruin" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "See See Rider" live Hamburg 2014, "Shine", "Stranger in My Life", "Superfantastic", "Take Cover" live Milan 2017, "The Chain" live Bari 2007, "The Man Who Has Everything", "The World Is on the Way" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Who Am I Supposed to Be", "Wild World" live Tokyo 1993
B2: "Aitai (会いたい)", "American Beauty" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Have I Been Here Before", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" live on Tiny House Live 2021, humming in interview 2009, "I Believe", "Just Take My Heart" backstage Ritz Theater 2019, "Kings for a Day", "Kisses Stain" acoustic version, "Last Man Standing", "Maniac", "Nobody Left to Blame" studio rehearsal 2010, "Pride", "Promise Her the Moon" live 2023, "Somewhere in the Middle", "The Voice ~Jupiter~", "Temperamental" live at Budokan Hall 2009, "Time Goes By", "Unbreak My Heart"
A♯2/B♭2: "Defying Gravity" live Milan 2017, "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "First Love", "Good Luck Trying", "I Forget to Breathe" live at Budokan Hall 2014, "Out of the Underground '14", "Shine" sung in a Danville parking lot 2021, "Stranger in My Life" live acoustic London 2010, "Superfantastic" live Avondale Estates 2021, "Temperamental" live Milan 2017, "Voodoo Kiss" live at Osaka Castle Hall 2011, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" sung in interview 2009
A2: "A Little Too Loose" live at Budokan Hall 2023, band introductions live Tokyo 2011, "Blame It on My Youth" live Tokyo 2002, "Crossroads" live Mill Valley 2021, "Heavy Traffic", "Open Letter to God", "The Monster in Me" live at Budokan Hall 2014
G♯2/A♭2: "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble", "Have I Been Here Before", "Unforgiven"
G2: "Signs of Life"
F♯2/G♭2: "A Little Too Loose" live at Budokan Hall 2023, "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble" live Trezzo 2017, "Have I Been Here Before"
F2: "Everybody Needs a Little Trouble" live New York City 2017
{Questionable notes}A♯2/B♭2: "Some Enchanted Evening" live Tokyo 2011 - very brief note that may not be worth actually counting
A2: "The Lady Is a Tramp" - spoken note with no musical context
G♯2/A♭2: "Crossroads" live acoustic Velden 2012 - unclear whether this note actually exists; is too difficult to pick it out with the audio quality
C♯2/D♭2: "It's Always About That Girl" - fry note that may not be worth counting
A2: "The Lady Is a Tramp" - spoken note with no musical context
G♯2/A♭2: "Crossroads" live acoustic Velden 2012 - unclear whether this note actually exists; is too difficult to pick it out with the audio quality
C♯2/D♭2: "It's Always About That Girl" - fry note that may not be worth counting
.......................................................
*Blue marks soft falsetto notes.
*Electric fuchsia marks distorted overtone screams.
*Green marks false cord screeched notes.
*Italics mark non-melodic notes.
*Underlines marks notes in backing vocals or otherwise muffled/obscured in the song mix.
{Detailed bio}Eric Martin is a highly-accomplished singer with an extensive career dating back to the late '70s, best known for being the lead vocalist of Mr. Big. He is widely recognized for his soulful, smoky, rhythm & blues-influenced tenor voice, with which he can perform very soft, tender ballads, but also do an extensive amount of hard rock belting and wild false cord screaming. Overall, he is something of a bizarre case range-wise, because at the peak of his vocal form, he was regularly doing heavy amounts of easy singing up into the lower fifth octave, but almost never belted above D5 in melody lines. He has always had plenty of range above that, but from about E5 onward, he almost always would switch to either soft falsetto or false cord screaming, never blending either of those registers into his regular mixed voice. Eric's screaming technique is also quite unusual, as he sometimes applies it in a more traditional gritty false cord style that can sound reminiscent of Steven Tyler, but other times his screams come out with some very intense overtones that result in the notes convincingly sounding an octave higher than they actually are, which had us here on TRP convinced that he was hitting notes in the upper sixth octave for a long time. For the first decade or so of Eric's career, he also heavily avoided lower singing, and rarely sang down as low as even E3, but as the years have gone by, his voice has lowered a decent bit, and he has gradually made more use of his low range from the mid '90s onward. Second notes have always been quite rare from him, but after scourging his entire discography I've managed to find a respectable number of sung B2s and B♭2s by him, and a handful of notes below that from select other occasions. He likely could pull off more mid second octave singing than he has shown so far, but as far as I have heard he has yet to put that range to much use.
Eric first started playing in bands when he was in high school, and apparently was first a drummer before discovering that he wanted to be a singer. His professional career began in 1978 with the band Mile Hi, of whom there are now a few rare recordings on YouTube. Though this band was ultimately short lived, it led to the formation of 415, Eric's next band, with whom he began to gain a name for himself in the San Francisco area - playing numerous sold out shows and opening for other artists who were big at the time. Of the few demo recordings that have been released online from this era, they show Eric's voice already having developed his signature lightly raspy rock belting style, with tremendous ease in the lower fifth octave, but also demonstrate some of his most clear and powerful upper fifth octave screams, such as the A5 in "Two for the Road" and the G♯5 in "More Than Enough". The growing popularity for 415 eventually led them to be discovered by a manager who had worked with Journey, and subsequently got them signed to their first record label in the early 1980s. However, the management insisted on changing the name of the band, and thus they were rebranded as simply the Eric Martin Band. Their debut album, Sucker for a Pretty Face, was released in 1983, which contained a couple songs that would become regular parts of Eric's solo set lists later on in his career, such as the title track and "Don't Stop". Though the band showed some potential for success in the tours that they embarked on following this album's release, they disbanded in 1985, at which point Eric began to pursue a solo career instead. He released two albums as a solo artist - 1985's Eric Martin and 1987's I'm Only Fooling Myself, both of which featured music heavily written in an '80s pop vein, and more of Eric's typical soulful tenor singing. A few of the songs off these albums (such as "I Can't Stop the Fire", "Eyes of the World", and "These Are the Good Times") gained a small amount of attention from appearing in movie soundtracks at the time, but according to Eric himself, his career was not going well at this point, and his horizons looked somewhat bleak as an artist.
The big turning point that occurred in Eric's career came in 1988, when he received a call from Billy Sheehan (who had gained notoriety in the past few years as the bassist for David Lee Roth's solo band), who was looking to form a new rock supergroup and was interested in hiring Eric as a vocalist. The other members of this band included guitarist Paul Gilbert, of Racer X fame, and drummer Pat Torpey, who had played with Robert Plant and Impellitteri, among others. Together, the four of them became the band Mr. Big, who released their self-titled debut album in 1989. This album was well-received for its combination of instrumental shredding chops by Gilbert and Sheehan, and tasteful vocal harmonies sung together by all four members. It also contained several songs that would go on to become hits for the band, most prominently "Addicted to That Rush", which has been played at every Mr. Big concert since its release. Two years after the release of this album, Mr. Big released their follow-up to it, 1991's Lean into It, which featured many of what have become the band's best-known songs - "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Just Take My Heart" and most prominently, "To Be with You" - the last of which became the band's only #1 hit in America, and is by far their most well-known song. For some time after the release of this album, Mr. Big saw international stardom from the success of "To Be with You". However, this was short-lived, and soon after they found themselves getting the most airplay in reception, which thus became their most targeted area from that point on.
While most of Eric's singing up until 1993 was done exclusively in a higher and upper mid register, his third and fourth album with Mr. Big (1993's Bump Ahead and 1996's Hey Man) saw him begin to make use of his at-the-time limited low range, with songs like "Promise Her the Moon" and "Mr. Big" demonstrating some strong melody singing down to D3, and "The Chain" featuring some smooth C♯3s. This trend further continued in 1998, when Eric released his first solo album since 1987, entitled Somewhere in the Middle, which featured a number of lower third octave notes in many songs, and even second octave notes down to B2 in the title track and even backing vocals down to F♯2 in "Have I Been Here Before"! Following this, Eric released two more studio albums with Mr. Big - 1999's Get Over It and 2001's Actual Size, but around this time, inner turbulence began to affect the band, eventually culminating in the decision to break up after a 2002 farewell tour in Japan. Following this, Eric resumed his solo career in full force, releasing the album I'm Goin' Sane later that year, as well as the EP Pure the year after, which featured acoustic versions of several of his solo songs and Mr. Big songs. In 2004, he released the album Destroy All Monsters, in which he dabbled with a much more modernized rock sound, which starkly contrasted to the '80s flavorings of many of his other releases. Later that same year, he also joined the J-rock band Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG) and released the album TMG I, which featured the hit single "Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~". Many of these releases also continued this trend of gradually moving away from singing as high as Eric did in the '80s and early '90s, and making more use of his lower third octave, and very occasionally his second.
From 2005-2007, Eric took a break from recording and touring as much, but returned in 2008, with the first of what would become a multi-part album series released in Japan, entitled Mr. Vocalist. This was closely followed by Mr. Vocalist 2, Mr. Vocalist X-Mas, and the live album Mr. Vocalist - A Special Night in Tokyo, all in 2009, Mr. Vocalist 3 in 2010, and Mr. Rock Vocalist in 2012. All of these albums featured covers of famous pop songs, such as "My Heart Will Go On", "Unbreak My Heart", and "I Will Always Love You", as well as a number of traditional Japanese songs with lyrics translated into English. It was likely during this period that Eric's voice underwent its most prominent changes, which he himself has referred to as his "balls not dropping until he was in his 40s". Around this time, he began to lose much of his former agility for belting up into the fifth octave as regularly, and shifted towards making the third and fourth octave the main focus of his range, with notes in the C5/C♯5 only being occasional showoff notes. It was also during this time that Eric really began to grow into his low range more, as many of the songs on these albums featured singing in the F3-D3 range, sometimes getting as low as B2 even. Having this change in tessitura proved to be a challenge for some of his next musical endeavors, because in 2009 Mr. Big reformed and began touring again, which required Eric to go back to singing many of the classic high belting tunes that he was known for with them. In order to accommodate his vocal changes, the band began tuning half a step down, and Eric got in the habit of having to flip into falsetto on certain notes that he could no longer hit, as can be heard on their 2009 live album Back to Budokan.
Since their 2009 reunion, Mr. Big have released three new studio albums - 2011's What If..., 2014's ...The Stories We Could Tell, and 2017's Defying Gravity. Though Eric has been able to effectively continue handling his role as frontman in the studio for the purposes of these albums, his high range has unfortunately continued to deteriorate over the course of the 2010s, making it increasingly difficult for him to pull off certain songs live. However, despite his technical setbacks, Eric has continued to be as active as ever in his later career - between embarking on lengthy tours for each of the new Mr. Big albums, regularly gigging as a solo artist (often just performing acoustically by himself or with 1-2 other musicians), and even becoming a guest vocalist with the metal opera project Avantasia, whom he has been collaborating with since 2013. He made his first appearance with Avantasia on their 2013 album The Mystery of Time, on which he sang the song "What's Left of Me", and then became a regular live performer with the band on their next few tours, providing vocals on a variety of other songs originally performed by singers not on the tour. He later also appeared on their 2019 album Moonglow, performing vocals on the songs "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and a cover of the Michael Sembello song "Maniac". Though Eric has taken some time away from releasing new music since the Covid-19 pandemic has hit, all signs indicate that he will likely be back to work soon, as he clearly loves what he does and plans to keep playing music for as long as he is able to.
Eric first started playing in bands when he was in high school, and apparently was first a drummer before discovering that he wanted to be a singer. His professional career began in 1978 with the band Mile Hi, of whom there are now a few rare recordings on YouTube. Though this band was ultimately short lived, it led to the formation of 415, Eric's next band, with whom he began to gain a name for himself in the San Francisco area - playing numerous sold out shows and opening for other artists who were big at the time. Of the few demo recordings that have been released online from this era, they show Eric's voice already having developed his signature lightly raspy rock belting style, with tremendous ease in the lower fifth octave, but also demonstrate some of his most clear and powerful upper fifth octave screams, such as the A5 in "Two for the Road" and the G♯5 in "More Than Enough". The growing popularity for 415 eventually led them to be discovered by a manager who had worked with Journey, and subsequently got them signed to their first record label in the early 1980s. However, the management insisted on changing the name of the band, and thus they were rebranded as simply the Eric Martin Band. Their debut album, Sucker for a Pretty Face, was released in 1983, which contained a couple songs that would become regular parts of Eric's solo set lists later on in his career, such as the title track and "Don't Stop". Though the band showed some potential for success in the tours that they embarked on following this album's release, they disbanded in 1985, at which point Eric began to pursue a solo career instead. He released two albums as a solo artist - 1985's Eric Martin and 1987's I'm Only Fooling Myself, both of which featured music heavily written in an '80s pop vein, and more of Eric's typical soulful tenor singing. A few of the songs off these albums (such as "I Can't Stop the Fire", "Eyes of the World", and "These Are the Good Times") gained a small amount of attention from appearing in movie soundtracks at the time, but according to Eric himself, his career was not going well at this point, and his horizons looked somewhat bleak as an artist.
The big turning point that occurred in Eric's career came in 1988, when he received a call from Billy Sheehan (who had gained notoriety in the past few years as the bassist for David Lee Roth's solo band), who was looking to form a new rock supergroup and was interested in hiring Eric as a vocalist. The other members of this band included guitarist Paul Gilbert, of Racer X fame, and drummer Pat Torpey, who had played with Robert Plant and Impellitteri, among others. Together, the four of them became the band Mr. Big, who released their self-titled debut album in 1989. This album was well-received for its combination of instrumental shredding chops by Gilbert and Sheehan, and tasteful vocal harmonies sung together by all four members. It also contained several songs that would go on to become hits for the band, most prominently "Addicted to That Rush", which has been played at every Mr. Big concert since its release. Two years after the release of this album, Mr. Big released their follow-up to it, 1991's Lean into It, which featured many of what have become the band's best-known songs - "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)", "Just Take My Heart" and most prominently, "To Be with You" - the last of which became the band's only #1 hit in America, and is by far their most well-known song. For some time after the release of this album, Mr. Big saw international stardom from the success of "To Be with You". However, this was short-lived, and soon after they found themselves getting the most airplay in reception, which thus became their most targeted area from that point on.
While most of Eric's singing up until 1993 was done exclusively in a higher and upper mid register, his third and fourth album with Mr. Big (1993's Bump Ahead and 1996's Hey Man) saw him begin to make use of his at-the-time limited low range, with songs like "Promise Her the Moon" and "Mr. Big" demonstrating some strong melody singing down to D3, and "The Chain" featuring some smooth C♯3s. This trend further continued in 1998, when Eric released his first solo album since 1987, entitled Somewhere in the Middle, which featured a number of lower third octave notes in many songs, and even second octave notes down to B2 in the title track and even backing vocals down to F♯2 in "Have I Been Here Before"! Following this, Eric released two more studio albums with Mr. Big - 1999's Get Over It and 2001's Actual Size, but around this time, inner turbulence began to affect the band, eventually culminating in the decision to break up after a 2002 farewell tour in Japan. Following this, Eric resumed his solo career in full force, releasing the album I'm Goin' Sane later that year, as well as the EP Pure the year after, which featured acoustic versions of several of his solo songs and Mr. Big songs. In 2004, he released the album Destroy All Monsters, in which he dabbled with a much more modernized rock sound, which starkly contrasted to the '80s flavorings of many of his other releases. Later that same year, he also joined the J-rock band Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG) and released the album TMG I, which featured the hit single "Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~". Many of these releases also continued this trend of gradually moving away from singing as high as Eric did in the '80s and early '90s, and making more use of his lower third octave, and very occasionally his second.
From 2005-2007, Eric took a break from recording and touring as much, but returned in 2008, with the first of what would become a multi-part album series released in Japan, entitled Mr. Vocalist. This was closely followed by Mr. Vocalist 2, Mr. Vocalist X-Mas, and the live album Mr. Vocalist - A Special Night in Tokyo, all in 2009, Mr. Vocalist 3 in 2010, and Mr. Rock Vocalist in 2012. All of these albums featured covers of famous pop songs, such as "My Heart Will Go On", "Unbreak My Heart", and "I Will Always Love You", as well as a number of traditional Japanese songs with lyrics translated into English. It was likely during this period that Eric's voice underwent its most prominent changes, which he himself has referred to as his "balls not dropping until he was in his 40s". Around this time, he began to lose much of his former agility for belting up into the fifth octave as regularly, and shifted towards making the third and fourth octave the main focus of his range, with notes in the C5/C♯5 only being occasional showoff notes. It was also during this time that Eric really began to grow into his low range more, as many of the songs on these albums featured singing in the F3-D3 range, sometimes getting as low as B2 even. Having this change in tessitura proved to be a challenge for some of his next musical endeavors, because in 2009 Mr. Big reformed and began touring again, which required Eric to go back to singing many of the classic high belting tunes that he was known for with them. In order to accommodate his vocal changes, the band began tuning half a step down, and Eric got in the habit of having to flip into falsetto on certain notes that he could no longer hit, as can be heard on their 2009 live album Back to Budokan.
Since their 2009 reunion, Mr. Big have released three new studio albums - 2011's What If..., 2014's ...The Stories We Could Tell, and 2017's Defying Gravity. Though Eric has been able to effectively continue handling his role as frontman in the studio for the purposes of these albums, his high range has unfortunately continued to deteriorate over the course of the 2010s, making it increasingly difficult for him to pull off certain songs live. However, despite his technical setbacks, Eric has continued to be as active as ever in his later career - between embarking on lengthy tours for each of the new Mr. Big albums, regularly gigging as a solo artist (often just performing acoustically by himself or with 1-2 other musicians), and even becoming a guest vocalist with the metal opera project Avantasia, whom he has been collaborating with since 2013. He made his first appearance with Avantasia on their 2013 album The Mystery of Time, on which he sang the song "What's Left of Me", and then became a regular live performer with the band on their next few tours, providing vocals on a variety of other songs originally performed by singers not on the tour. He later also appeared on their 2019 album Moonglow, performing vocals on the songs "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and a cover of the Michael Sembello song "Maniac". Though Eric has taken some time away from releasing new music since the Covid-19 pandemic has hit, all signs indicate that he will likely be back to work soon, as he clearly loves what he does and plans to keep playing music for as long as he is able to.
{Album ranges}Eric Martin Band:
Eric Martin:
Mr. Big:
Tak Matsumoto Group:
- Sucker for a Pretty Face (1983) - F3-C♯5
Eric Martin:
- Eric Martin (1985) - F3-G3-D5-C6
- I'm Only Fooling Myself (1987) - E3-F5-F♯5
- Somewhere in the Middle (1998) - F♯2-B2-D5-F♯5
- I'm Goin' Sane (2002) - C3-C♯5-G5
- Pure (2003) - B2-C♯5-E5
- Destroy All Monsters (2004) - D3-C5-C♯5
- Mr. Vocalist (2008) - B2-C♯5-E5
- Mr. Vocalist 2 (2009) - B2-C5-D5
- Mr. Vocalist X-Mas (2009) - C3-C5-D5
- Mr. Vocalist - A Special Night in Tokyo (2009) - D3-C5-E♭5
- Mr. Vocalist 3 (2010) - B♭2-C5
- Mr. Rock Vocalist (2012) - C♯3-C5-G5
- Over Japan (2016) - C3-B4-E5
Mr. Big:
- Mr. Big (1989) - G3-D5-B5
- Raw Like Sushi (1990) - G3-D5-B♭5
- Lean Into It (1991) - C3-E3-D5-G5
- Live in San Francisco (1992) - C3-D3-E5-B♭5
- Raw Like Sushi II (1992) - C3-E3-A5-B♭5
- Bump Ahead (1993) - D3-D5-A5
- Japandemonium: Raw Like Sushi 3 (1994) - C3-D5-B5
- Hey Man (1996) - C♯3-D5-B5
- Channel V at the Hard Rock Live (1996) - C♯3-D5-B5
- Live at the Budokan (1997) - C♯3-C♯5-B5
- Get Over It (1999) - C3-A5
- Actual Size (2001) - C3-C5-G5
- In Japan (2002) - C3-D3-C♯5-A5
- Back to Budokan (2009) - B2-C♯3-D5-G♯5
- What If... (2011) - G♯2-C♯3-F♯5
- Live from the Living Room (2012) - A2-C5-F♯5
- Raw Like Sushi 100: Live in Japan 100th Anniversary (2012) - B♭2-C3-D♭5-G5
- ...The Stories We Could Tell (2014) - B2-C3-F♯5
- Raw Like Sushi 114 (2015) - A2-B♭2-G5-A5
- R.L.S. 113 Sendai (2015) -
- Defying Gravity (2017) - G♯2-G5
- Live from Milan (2018) - B♭2-A5
- Ten (2024) - B♭2-B4-F5
Tak Matsumoto Group:
- TMG I (2004) - G2-F5-F♯5
- Dodge the Bullet ~Live 2004~ (2004) - C♯3-C♯5-B5
Fun fact - this is technically the longest thread that it's ever taken me (or anyone on TRP, I'm pretty sure) to finish, considering that I've been trying to finish making it through this guy's discography since the earliest version of TRP, all the way back in 2012. I made one go at it back at the beginning of 2012, and made it as far as checking all of his Mr. Big studio albums and maybe half of his solo albums, then came back to it in 2018 and rechecked/corrected all the notewatching I had done from the Mr. Big studio albums, then started checking some of their live albums before I fell out of the habit a second time. This is now the third attempt I've made to notewatch him in the span of nine years, so it feels like a nice notewatching milestone to have FINALLY seen it through this time!
